readsfreenovel Chapter 429 Camera Module
Chapter 429 Camera Module
March 28, 2003, Shenzhen.
When Ling Yun got out of the car, the building in front of him was a typical Shenzhen factory building—gray exterior walls, blue roller shutter doors, and several trucks parked in front. A sign hung at the entrance that read "O-Film Electronics".
A man in his thirties stood in the doorway, thin and wearing black-rimmed glasses. He saw Ling Yun, walked quickly over, and extended his hand.
"Mr. Ling, I am Cai Rongjun from OFILM. Welcome."
The two shook hands. Cai Rongjun led Ling Yun inside. The workshop wasn't large, but it was very clean. Several production lines were running, and workers in cleanroom suits were assembling camera modules under microscopes. Cai Rongjun picked up a module and handed it to Ling Yun. The module was very small, smaller than a fingernail, with a lens on it connected to a ribbon cable.
"This is our newly developed 30-pixel camera module. The lens is plastic, and the sensor is CMOS. When used in a mobile phone, it can take photos and record videos."
Ling Yun flipped the module over and examined it. "How much did it cost?"
Cai Rongjun said, "Currently, with small batches, each costs about forty yuan. With mass production, we can reduce the price to below thirty yuan."
Lingyun asked him, "Can the pixel count be increased?"
Cai Rongjun said, "Yes, we can. We'll release a 130-megapixel sensor next year and a 300-megapixel sensor the year after. We'll have to buy the sensor from overseas, but we can make the lens and module ourselves."
Lingyun returned the module to him. "Spark has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with O-Film. Over the next three years, they will purchase no less than ten million camera modules. The condition is that you must conduct research and development and production according to Spark's specifications."
Cai Rongjun paused for two seconds, then nodded vigorously. "President Ling, we will certainly live up to your trust."
Just as Ling Yun was about to leave, Cai Rongjun suddenly said, "Mr. Ling, there's something I need to tell you. Last month, a Japanese camera module manufacturer came to us."
Ling Yun looked at him. "Which one?"
"Sony said they could supply sensors to O-Film at a price 20% lower than the market price. The condition was that O-Film couldn't supply Xinghuo."
Ling Yun paused for a moment. "What did you reply?"
Cai Rongjun said, "I refused. But I later found out that Sony didn't just approach us. They also approached several other domestic module manufacturers, offering the same conditions—if they didn't supply Xinghuo, they would offer discounts on sensors; if they supplied Xinghuo, they would cut off the supply of sensors."
Ling Yun was silent for a few seconds. Sony. The global leader in CMOS sensors. They were using their upstream monopoly to block Spark's supply chain.
"Mr. Ling, I refused Sony not because I didn't care about the 20% discount. It's because I know that what Spark is doing is crucial to the survival of China's mobile phone industry chain. If even we give up, this industry chain will never stand up again."
Ling Yun looked at him for several seconds. Then he reached out and squeezed Cai Rongjun's hand tightly.
"President Cai, Xinghuo will not let you regret your choice today."
After leaving Oufeiguang, Ling Yun got into the car. He leaned back in his seat, closed his eyes, and kept thinking.
Sony made a move, TSMC made a move, Microsoft made a move, TPK made a move, Amazon made a move. This is certainly not a coincidence. Spark has already alarmed the old order of the entire industry chain, and they will not sit idly by and watch a new player rise. They will use all means—patent blockade, supply chain disruption, price wars, commercial bundling—to strangle Spark in its cradle.
Ling Yun opened his eyes, took out his phone, and sent Chen Zhongming a text message: "Activate the supply chain backup plan. For all core materials, have at least two suppliers, and at least one of them must be a non-foreign company."
A few seconds later, Chen Zhongming replied: "Understood. The investigation has already begun."
Outside the window, the night in Shenzhen is deep, the streetlights are on, and the traffic flows like a river. This city is the heart of China's electronics industry. Countless companies like O-Film and Suzhou Vigor have grown from nothing to something, from small to large, here.
What they lack is not technology, nor diligence; it's an opportunity. An opportunity to stand up and not be strangled by giants. What Spark aims to do is give them that opportunity.
April 1, 2003, Nanshan District, Shenzhen.
When Ling Yun got out of the car, the building in front of him made him stop in his tracks. Six stories high, with a glass curtain wall, dark gray in color, gleaming coldly in the April sunlight.
The national flag and the Xinghuo five-pointed star flag hung on the flagpole at the entrance, fluttering slightly in the wind. The sign above the door read "Xinghuo Industrial Design Center." The silver lettering was inlaid in the dark gray stone, very elegant.
Chen Zhongming stood at the door, next to another person—around forty years old, wearing a black T-shirt, with very short hair and black-rimmed glasses.
"Mr. Ling, this is Michelangelo Rossi, the chief designer of the design center," Chen Zhongming introduced. "He previously worked at Apple for eight years, participating in the design of the iPod. Before that, he did car design in Italy; he led the interior design of the Ferrari F430."
Rossi extended his hand, and Ling Yun shook it. His hand was strong, with large knuckles, more like a craftsman's than a designer's.
"Mr. Ling, just call me Mike." His English had a heavy Italian accent. "Mr. Chen showed me the product definition for StarPhone. To be honest, I was shocked. What you're going to do is crazier than any project I've ever done at Apple."
Ling Yun asked, "Where's the madness in this?"
"The madness lies in your attempt to cram a computer into a palm-sized box and make it look beautiful." Mick stepped aside, leading Lingyun inside. "But it suits my taste perfectly."
The first floor is an open-plan design studio. The entire space is open and unpartitioned, with only a few huge workbenches.
On the table were clay models, sketches, color swatches, and samples of various materials—metal, glass, plastic, and leather.
The walls were covered with product posters, not for electronics, but for classic designs—the side profile of a Porsche 911, details of a Sony Walkman, the curve of an armrest of a Danish chair, and the dial of a Swiss watch.
Mick walked to a workbench, picked up a clay model, and handed it to Lingyun.
The model is about the size of a palm, with a very smooth surface. The front is a screen that runs from top to bottom and from left to right with almost no bezels.
The front features a single physical Home button, which is round and slightly raised. The sides have a metal frame, and the back is made of slightly curved glass.
"This is the first prototype I made based on your product definition," Mick said. "It has a 3.5-inch screen, a Home button as the only physical button, a metal frame, and a glass back cover. It's 9.5 millimeters thick."
Ling Yun flipped the model over to examine it. It felt great, solid in his hand. "Is there a problem?"
Mick said, "There are many problems. First, 9.5 millimeters is too thick. Our goal is to make it under 8 millimeters. Second, the glass back cover looks good but is fragile. We need to consider what kind of glass to use and how to strengthen it. Third, the metal frame—how to handle the antenna signal? The entire frame is metal, so the antenna will be shielded. Fourth, should the Home button integrate fingerprint recognition? The technology is not mature yet, but reserving space is necessary."
Lingyun placed the model on the table. "What are the solutions to these problems?"
Mick picked up another sample from the table—a piece of glass, pale blue, gleaming softly under the light. "This is a tempered glass Corning is developing called Gorilla Glass, which hasn't been officially released yet. I've talked to their engineers; if it's adopted, the back cover could be as thin as 0.6 millimeters, and its drop resistance would be three times that of ordinary glass."
He then picked up a sample of a metal frame. "For the antenna solution, we are collaborating with BYD Electronics. The metal frame is divided into three sections, connected by nano-injection molded separators. It's almost invisible visually, but signals can still pass through it."
Ling Yun nodded. "What about fingerprint recognition?"
Mick shrugged. "The technology isn't mature enough yet. But I've left a cavity below the Home button. We'll fit it in whenever the technology is ready."
Ling Yun looked at the workbench, at the models, samples, and sketches. He recalled years ago in Jinan, standing in that dilapidated internet cafe, looking at the Starry Sky Internet Cafe that Wang Defa had renovated. Back then, he was thinking about the same thing—how to make something look good, something that people would be willing to spend money on and carry around.
"Mr. Ling," Mike began, "there's something I need to tell you beforehand. Making this will be very expensive. The yield rate of the curved glass, the CNC machining time of the metal frame, and the precision assembly of the Home button—each of these is significantly higher than any other phone on the market. If we use traditional cost accounting, the exterior components alone will account for more than 30% of the total cost of this phone."
Ling Yun looked at him. "Are you afraid you can't do it?"
Mick laughed. "I'm afraid that even if I make it, no one will be able to afford it."
Ling Yun said, "Then let's get the product made first. How we sell it after that is my business."
Mick nodded. Just as Ling Yun was about to leave, Mick picked up an envelope from the worktable and handed it to him. "This is the letter of recommendation Steve Jobs wrote to me when I left Apple. He said one thing—'Mick, find a project worth your full commitment.' Mr. Ling, I hope this project is StarPhone."
Ling Yun took the envelope but didn't open it. "Jobs wouldn't misjudge someone."